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Weaning Advice--baby soothed by the breast

I have a 7 month old and in about 4 months I plan to start weaning him from nursing. Any advice for doing this...this baby is soothed by the breast for everything..for night sleeping, naps, for comfort ..everything. My husband cannot put him to sleep with rocking b/c the baby has to nurse to go to sleep so the only person who can handle naps and night time is me. I don't mind..I am just worried that weaning may be a very difficult thing for us. He rarely gets bottles and was doing well starting solid foods at 6 months but now is not very interested in that. I thought that might help with starting to move away from nursing so much but no luck. Any advice?

Re: Weaning Advice--baby soothed by the breast

why do you want to wean? i just ask because you mention how important it is to your lo and how you fear it will be difficult. it may be best just to go with it and see how both you and your baby feel about it over the next few months. a lot can happen in a few months!

Re: Weaning Advice--baby soothed by the breast

Relax. 4 months will bring a lot of changes, so you really shouldn't stress about this right now. Just enjoy this time with your baby.

That being said, I think you've picked up on 2 of the issues that can make weaning challenging- first, that nursing is the absolute most reliable way to soothe a baby, and second, that many babies don't eat more than a token amount of solid food until well into their second year. The first problem is one you'd have to tough your way through, working to find alternate ways to comfort baby and get him to sleep. It could be a hard transition, depending on how reliant you and your baby are on nursing at the time you decide to start weaning. The second issue is even more intractable, in a way, because you cannot force a baby to eat a healthy and balanced diet of solids. If your baby is not eating more solids by a year, you may have some hard decisions to make about weaning. Remember that breastmilk is supposed to make up the majority of baby's diet until a year- so you really should not be expecting baby to "move away" from nursing at this very early stage.

I know lots of moms feel "done" at around 12 months, but I personally hope you'll decide to keep an open mind about nursing past a year. Toddler nursing is fun, convenient, it's easy compared to nursing a baby, and you can retain as many or as few nursing sessions as you and baby want. Let us know if you're open to the idea! I personally love talking about the benefits of extended nursing- and the challenges, too. no pressure, of course!

Re: Weaning Advice--baby soothed by the breast

I agree with the pps, as with anything baby/toddler/child setting limits is A LOT easier when they are older and understand. Weaning when they are not really ready is hard, it will be a lot easier when he's older, if you need to wean. I decided to wean DD1 at 2,5 years old because I had another baby and unfortunately Tandem nursing wasn't for me She is an intense child, so it wasn't easy but it was easier than if I had to wean her earlier, she already understood that now mommy, needs a break or that we are going to nurse after lunch, etc.
I have no advice on how to wean a 12 mo baby but I will be able to help you when he is 2,5 years old
As pps, no pressure but I just wanted to say that if there is no reason why to wean, then keep nursing is a lot easier than weaning.